


Red for Success

by Lady_Ganesh



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25947256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ganesh/pseuds/Lady_Ganesh
Summary: He doesn't remember meeting Mila. But she still makes an impression.Written for the 'Childhood, adolescence, and adulthood' prompt.
Relationships: Otabek Altin & Mila Babicheva, Otabek Altin & Yuri Plisetsky
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8
Collections: Rare Ships!!! on BINGO 2020





	Red for Success

"It's easy," the girl said. She was tall and red-haired and moved with the same ease as all of Yakov's skaters. She skated first in a lazy, wide arc, but it felt like no time at all passed before she'd gained enough speed for a solid double lutz.

"You're a show-off," one of the girls said, not even bothering to hide her jealousy.

"Shut up," someone snapped. Otabek followed the voice and realized it was Yuri Plisetsky, sour-faced and sharp. "You're jealous. You can hardly even get out there without falling on your ass."

"Don't let Yakov hear you say that," someone said, and Yuri rolled his eyes.

"What about you?" the redhead said, and Otabek realized she was looking directly at him. "I know you can't dance. Can you skate?"

He looked at her. Maybe the rest of the clinic was going to be a disaster, but he could at least prove himself. 

"Okay," he said. 

"So he found you, huh?" the girl said. She was one of the Ladies' Singles skaters. Russian. Mila Babicheva, that was it.

"Yuri?"

She nodded into her champagne. 

He nodded back at her.

"I met you, didn't I? We were kids. Yakov's clinic."

He looked at her and tried to remember. There had been a girl with red hair--"Double lutz," he said.

She grinned. "You couldn't dance."

"I couldn't dance _ballet,"_ he corrected. "Still can't."

"But you can dance," she said.

He held his hand out to her. Yuuri and Victor were already on the impromptu dance floor, not yet doing anything that would get them arrested but possibly on their way. At any rate, they wouldn't draw too much attention. He didn't mind being noticed, but being the only people dancing always felt weird.

She was flirty, but not obnoxiously so. The kind of flirting people did for fun, rather than because they wanted to fool around. And she was a good dancer, which he could have guessed from her skating, but still made her more fun to dance with.

"So, what are your intentions toward our Yuuri?"

"I don't...have any," he said. He didn't think he did. 

"I wasn't sure, after that EX," she said. She gave him a little look, up and down. "You interested in girls?"

"As friends," he said, carefully.

She smiled at him, and he relaxed a little. "I always need friends."

Otabek never minded wearing skating costumes, or dressing up at Halloween. Wearing a tux for a party, though, that always felt awkward. The tie was always too loose or too tight, and no amount of fiddling with it made it feel comfortable. 

Maybe he was just awkward at parties. At least almost everyone here spoke Russian. He remembered some parties with Leo where he maybe caught every fifth word.

"Oh," Mila said. She looked extraordinarily beautiful. He wondered if she felt as uncomfortable as he did. The laces on her dress sure didn't look like much fun. "I was wondering where you disappeared to."

"Just wanted some fresh air for a minute," he said. He should have offered to DJ the reception. His hands itched to do something, anything. No one was dancing, which meant all there was to do was drink and make conversation until Katsuki had made it through his first bottle and things got interesting. Victor kept resting his hand on Yuuri's shoulder, sweet, affectionate.

Otabek hadn't been jealous, not exactly. Maybe a little lonely.

She walked to the wrought iron balcony, so they were side by side. "You sure you're okay?"

He nodded. "But...I'm glad you're out here too."

"I was looking for Sara," she said. "But I'm glad I found you." She pressed her arm against his. "Weddings are the worst, anyway."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "When I was a kid, my uncle got married. Third time. And--and wow, it's so silly. My mom and he got into this big fight at the reception, and I spilled punch on my dress, and she got _so mad_ about the punch. And now I know...she wasn't mad about the punch. She was mad about fighting with my uncle. She didn't get like--she wasn't the kind of person to take stuff out on people when they were mad, you know? But I guess that's why I was so upset, and I remember it so much. But I've never really liked weddings since then."

"You think you'll ever get married?" she asked him.

"Not like this," he said. He'd always been all right with being the center of attention--anyone who didn't didn't become a figure skater--but there was something cold in the way Yuri's mother smiled at the people around her, as if they were admirers, not friends. And that was leaving aside the way she treated him when the cameras weren't taking a thousand pictures. "What about you?"

"I don't know. If I do I'll elope."

He pushed back against his arm, like he was teasing. "I can be your witness."

"Make me a playlist."

"Yeah." At some point, he had to go back in and see if he could rescue Yuri. At some point, the dance floor would be crowded and things would be easier on everyone. For now, the evening breeze was cool, and there was good company. "I'm glad you're out here."

"Me too." 


End file.
